Bits here and there.

So, it's been eventful and I have failed to write about it, so things are stacked up!

I went to a fall fire festival in Kyoto, and it was a great experience. The most I can say about this festival was that it's a fall harvest thing, there were lots of people in traditional dress carrying around huge torches that were on fire, the town it was in was really old and traditional-looking, it was ridiculously crowded, and I forgot my camera to document the coolness of all the fires. So, no pictures, sorry. 

In other news, on halloween me and some friends went to shinsaibashi to go to a club where you could get in for free with a costume. Long story short, the line was huge, we were with an underaged person so couldn't get in (after waiting in line for 1.5 hours), and I lost my wallet. Yippee!

My Japanese friend Yuki immediately called the police but nobody had turned it in. The next day we went to the police in Hirakata and filed a report, but my wallet has yet to be returned by good Japanese Samaritans. Needless to say, I've stopped hoping. Yuki also helped me replace a debit card I lost (I only kept one in my wallet, my momma taught me never to keep all my means of cash together and boy was she right!), and get a new train pass. So the moral of this story is: be careful, don't keep all your important things in one wallet or one purse (like, say, all your Ids, cash, train pass, important pictures) and if something happens, hopefully you have a patient Japanese friend you can trust to help you sort everything out. I still haven't replaced my alien registration card or my school ID. I will have to carry around my passport from now on.

All in all, I'd estimate that Halloween stunt from which I had zero amount of fun has cost me about $200. So I'm not doing anything special for a loooong while. Yeah, I have terrible luck. I have never lost that wallet in the past 4 years that I've had it, but of course I lose it in Japan.

Moving on...I finally discovered where my host mother works, and why she can return home so quickly at basically any time. So the other day I returned home from school early, and upon texting my mother if anyone was home, she told me to go to obaasan's house to get the spare key. Now, obaasan lives about a block away, maybe (it's hard to tell with the way streets are in these neighborhoods), and I only saw their place one time during my first week here. So, the last time I tried going to obaasan's, I went to the wrong house and confusion and embarrassment ensued. I sucked it up and tried again, and luckily this time I did not ring the wrong doorbell.

So the grandmother invited me in, and what's this?! In a room of the house, there's my okaasan and 2 little boys practicing their calligraphy. Apparently, she teaches a small group at a time in my obaasan's house! Alert the Scooby gang, this MYSTERY IS SOLVED! Though, I wonder if she hadn't told me that this is where she teaches and I just didn't understand. Actually, I'm 99% certain that's what happened.

So I stood there awkwardly and asked what kanji they were drawing, and what the ink was, and it looked fun so I wanted to try, but I figured it might not be appropriate so I didn't ask. And then my obaasan invited me in for matcha (green tea) and manju ( a sweet pastry sort of thing), and we chatted...sort of. It was more of her talking and me stuttering nonsensical answers back.

I will say though, I seem to be able to get the gist of what people are saying more easily now. Most of the time they talk waaaay too fast so by the time I've finished processing what the first sentence meant (structure, grammar points, vocab), they are already done with everything they were saying. But sometimes I just go with my gut instinct of what I THINK they said and do my best to answer. I can tell when I've got it completely wrong because of the way they just nod and smile, it's exactly what I do when Japanese people's English makes no sense.

Answering seems to be way more difficult than listening, of course. Because then I have to stop and think laboriously (vocab I want to use, sentence structure, correct grammar, polite speech...oh crap I can't say this sentence, try something else- okay sentence structure, etc) and so I'm rather slow. And for some reason when I'm trying to speak, I completely bastardize the Japanese language and my skill level drops dramatically.

Apparently, if I go by the essays I can write in class, I should be able to speak conversationally with these people with decently complex structures (for 3^rd level okay). But what comes out are awkward simple sentences and no fluidity at all. So maybe I should start carrying around a notebook and write everything I want to say and just point to it during a conversation.

I wish there was a way to record myself talking and compare where I was when I got here to where I'm at now, and where I will be months from now. I feel like there is no difference, but I know that's just my pessimism talking. I've learned a buttload in the past 2 months and sometimes I find myself reading signs and thinking 'wow, a month ago I wouldn't have understood any of this kanji' and I feel a little surge of encouragement.

Speaking wise...I still feel like I haven't gotten much better, but when I really think about it, I am taking the simple things for granted. You don't become perapera (fluent) over night! I suppose I could record myself talking, but it's not the same as how I would be naturally so it's kinda pointless. I am thinking of introducing some phrases I use all the time in my next videos for the interested folks.

To wrap up this blog, me and Yuki went up a mountain and watched the sun set over Hirakata city (Sort of, cause the sun set on the side where a bunch of trees were blocking it >_<). It was so we quite cold that day so we didn't say long after the sun went down, but here are some pictures from the excursion.

That's it for now!

My Japanese Host Family

So as promised via annotations in the vid, here are some basic pictures of the home, if you are interested in what an average Japanese house looks like.

My bedroom is on the 3rd floor, where we shall start.

The bed is more western style I suppose, but all it really is about 2 inches of padding on top of a hard wooden frame. It's still pretty comfortable though, it was the hard pillow I couldn't get used to (eventually bought my own fluffy one for like $4)

    

There's an air-conditioner in the window, which I had to shut off every time I left the room. There was also a timer for it so I would set it for an hour after I went to bed.

Where I keep most of my clothes, the rest are in the dresser to the right.

This room is across from my mine and Ayami/sometimes the parents sleep here.

Down the treacherous steps with Pikachu to the 2nd floor!

Basically the living room, there's 1 massage-chair thingy but otherwise we sit on the floor. (the clothes are hanging inside because it was raining)

This is the dining room, and past it the kitchen.

2nd set of perilous stairs, down 2 the first floor.

Where we keep our shoes, though there's a rack outside that I keep just mine on as well.

The first floor room, where they pray to their shrine (off to the side and not pictured) and sleep with a few blankets spread out on the floor.

That's a covered piano back there.

Another toilet, and the washer. It is common to sometimes use old bath water from the night before to fill up the washer to do laundry with.

To the right of the washer, the bathing room! As you can see, the shower head is detachable. And the bath has a cover, for when they heat up the water in there.

And that concludes the tour of the home!

I mentioned a shrine,  and that's because my family practice Soka Gakkai, which Wikipedia tells me is based off the teachings of Buddhism (there are more specifics but this isn't a class. look it up yourself ^_^).

Every morning, possibly afternoon, and evening before bed, my host father and sometimes mother/ayami pray. They do these chants that were a little startling to hear at first, but I quickly got used to it. I do know some people whose families like them to go to church or other religious meetings with them, but my family has never asked me to do anything like that.

Okay, that's it for now, unless I think of anything else to add later. I forgot to take a picture of the 2nd floor toilet that has all the nifty gadgets, but it's just a toilet so use your imagination!

Also, the microwaves here not simply microwaves. They are 3-in-1: microwave, oven, and toaster. Mind-blown, I want to bring one of these babies back with me.

Bonus random picture:

In a dressing room you have to wear this nifty mask thing to protect the clothes from the pounds of make-up Japanese girls wear. I was amused.

A Trip to Hiroshima

I didn't realize how difficult it would be to keep this blog updated. Life here is so fast-paced, my classes are keeping me busier than I ever expected they would. I'm hardly home, so I hardly have time to sit and organize my thoughts, which is why I think this is even more important. Time is flying too quickly, I can't believe half the semester is almost over.

Anyway, I finally want to talk about my trip to Hiroshima that took place last week (I know, belated, but I was gone all weekend, only to come back to a hellish week of papers, tests, and quizzes everyday), and this week is midterms. In fact, I am neglecting studying for one of my English-class midterms right now in order to update this blog, because I have no time otherwise. But never fear, I will study when I eat lunch!

My Hiroshima trip was was an amazing experience. I wasn't actually in the class that the trip was intended for, but anybody could sign up and go. Though it was expensive, I knew this one of those rare opportunities I would regret passing up- especially since we would be listening to an atomic bomb survivor. It's kind of mind-blowing to think that people are still around who remember the things that we only know about from history class.

Anyway, we took the Shinkansen (the super famous bullet train) as a large group there so it cost about $75 (the way home was about $95 since there was no group discount!). I will just take a moment to praise how comfortable it was- there was so much leg room and the seats went far back and it was a smooth ride, if only planes could be so comfortable.

It took us about 2 hours total to get there, which is pretty amazing considering that by the regular train system or bus it would take about 5-6 hours. Once in Hiroshima we all basically scattered and were to meet at the Museum at the designated time in order to listen to the speaker. Me and my three friends Ellen, Grace, and Sachiko got some quick snacks at a bakery, which was amusing since the bakery sold the typical fare: donuts, croissants, french toast, and--fried chicken?! Nihon sure does love its fried chicken.

We took the tram to Genbaku Dome, the last standing building from the atomic bomb:

It's quite powerful to be standing in front of a building that is a reminder of such a dark time in history, and it is amazing that it is still standing at all. Being able to look at this old and mostly destroyed building and then look past it at the new and vibrant city full of life is just...awe-inspiring. It is another reminder of the power and perseverence of human nature. To know that 65 years ago the place where I was standing was full of devestation and ruin is an indescribable feeling.

We walked around the museum for a bit before we gathered for the speech. The woman who spoke had been 14 years old and working in the city when the bomb struck. There is no comparison between reading about the destruction from a book and hearing the first-hand tale from a survivor who actually experienced it. I felt so grateful to be there at that moment.

She spoke only in Japanese of course, but the teacher who was leading the field trip did his best to translate as she spoke. There were a lot of long silences as he tried to translate and some awkward stuttering from him. "She said um um...um er um um that when she um.........um....." but I figured it was better than nothing. A lot of students were very unhappy with the translation, for the lag time, some apparent mistranslations, and for the fact that he seemed to be acting kind of rude to the woman. If he wanted her to repeat something for clarity and she obliged, he might then quickly cut her off with "okay, okay I got it".

Granted, it was probably a nerve-wracking experience and I am certain he wasn't trying to be rude. Japanese is obviously not his native language, so I will cut him some slack because it was nice of him to try to translate at all. Understanding some of it is better than understanding none of it with my meager Japanese. I suppose for the more-advanced Japanese language students who understood her it would have been annoying, but I'm not complaining.

Despite the troubled translation, it was still a powerful talk. After she was done relating her experiences, it was time for questions from students. Not gonna lie, I thought some of the questions students asked her were just flat out pointless or awkward. "After the bomb struck, what gave you the will to live?" Really, what kind of question is that to ask? Did they expect her to give some inspirational answer like "The hope that one day the world might see peace". She actually gave a very practical answer: she just had to survive. There were other questions that made me cringe but I can't recall exactly what they were.

After it was over, we got to go up and meet her and thank her for the speech. Some students talked to her, but I was too shy with my Japanese so I just thanked her and shook her hand. She was so small and frail, yet such a powerful representative for the need for change and peace.

After we listened to her speak, the professor announced that we were on our own and wished us luck finding our way back. We scattered once more and me and the girls spent a few more hours at the museum soaking up the experience before getting some delicious okonimiyaki. We then hit a tourist informational booth and got super lucky that the guy there was able to call a hostel nearby and reserve us a place to sleep for the night for only $25 per person. It was dorm style and a nice, clean place to stay.

We lounged around a bit at the hostel since we were exhausted, then went out for the night, hit a few bars, talked to a nice chef whose random friend showed us how to get to Mac, a famous bar in Japan. We met some other foreigners there, and made some new friends.

The next day we took a boat to Miyajima. May I just say that if I could, I would live on the water forever, blissfully surrounded by those mountains. Here is one example of the probably-too-many pictures I took:

When we arrived at the island, we made our way to the otorii gate. Unfortunately, this is where disaster struck. Somehow, me, Grace, and Ellen got separated from Sachiko. We had rented lockers to put our stuff in, me and Ellen shared a locker and Grace/Sachiko another. Apparently, I didn't have Sachiko's number like I thought I did, neither did Ellen, and Grace, who did have it- left her phone in the locker. And Sachiko had the key.

No big deal right, we were bound to run into her...but wrong. We spent a while walking back and forth from the way we came, hoping to run into her, but it was not to be. I still went down to go see the gate upclose, since it was low-tide and possible to walk around near it, and got some amazing pictures:

It was so worth my socks being wet for the rest of the night. There was also the shrine, and though you had to pay to get into it I still wanted to go through it and go around the other side, since there was a lot to see. But since we were without Sachiko, the others thought it best if we just stay put, so I never got to see the rest of the island, though Ellen and Grace got to try some good food (I was too cheap and not hungry enough haha). We went to go sit by the lockers and wait for Sachiko by the time night hit, so we also didn't get to see the shrine all lit up.

It was while we were still waiting in the dark, watching people stream out, that I realized I knew other people who had Sachiko's number. If only I had realized that hours earlier!! I got her information, we called her, found out she was waiting by the gate, and then we met up and got on the return ferry.

We took a loooong tram to the station, bought our shinkansen tickets, had enough time to quickly get some snacks, and were literally minutes from boarding the train and getting some sweet relaxation when Ellen suddenly realized she didn't have her very expensive, favorite jacket. It was late and Sachiko had to catch the local bus back in hirakata so had to get on this shinkansen, but me and grace and Ellen stayed behind to figure out what to do about the jacket. Grace quickly became the hero of the night. She used her Japanese skills and talked to like 4 different Japanese workers in the station and got the number of the ferry we had ridden, since we figured that's where Ellen had forgotten her jacket (which by the way, turned out to be true, and Ellen got her jacket mailed back days later. So lucky!).

We finally got on board, and I slept so wonderfully.

That concluded my awesome trip to Hiroshima, and though it ended up costing me some $300 for 2 days, it was definitely worth it. It's sad that I don't know if I will ever get the chance to go back before I have to leave.

I only bought one souvenir, a keychain with two crane origami in a heart. The kanji on the front reads "Kizuna", which is the word for the relationship between people, be it two lovers, friends, or family. Despite the depressing aura all around the museum, from the reminder of death and destruction, the tragedy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki remind us how important kizuna is, how important the people are around us and our connection to them. Our friends, family, loved ones, so many have lost people close to them due to war. But kizuna has the power to bring people from all parts of the globe together, and that makes the world a little brighter, ne?

Finally, my first post about Japan!

Hi everybody! It's Marissa, and I am officially in Japan! \o/


So to those who know me and those who don't, I am a Junior from DePaul University, Chicago, and am currently studying abroad in Hirakata City (Osaka), Japan. I will be at Kansai Gaidai University until June 2011, so hopefully I can fill everyone in on lots of adventures.


So, I made some videos weeks and weeks ago to start a video log (for my scholarship, very important!), but I was having serious technical difficulties. As in, my little laptop cannot play the videos without skipping around and going really slow, so I can't edit them!


HOWEVER, thanks to a magnanimous Japanese friend willing to lend his laptop and hours/days of his time (it really took us forever to figure out how to do things on his laptop. He's never made vids or loaded anything onto youtube and I couldn't read his all-Japanese laptop. Actually, I was beginning to wonder if he could either  :P), I was finally able to get my first few videos up. *~*ゆきさんは　てつだってくれてありがとう！^___^ *~* Hopefully next time I will be able to make them shorter and edit them more gracefully then this here blob:

Posting these videos was definitely one of those cringe-worthy, 'do I really sound/speak like that? why do I keep touching my hair and smacking my lips?!' moments. I'm gonna go slink off into my self-conscious corner now haha.

I will try to keep this updated, but it's already proving difficult. I can't believe already a month has passed, there are so many fun things I want to talk about still!  I was also considering teaching some useful japanese words/phrases. So much to do, why is everything going so fast?

~Marissa